A THRIVING sports club in Worcester is celebrating a £12,000 cash injection in a big boost for youngsters.

Worcester City Council is handing the money Perdiswell Young People’s Leisure Club which offers daytime, after-school, evening and weekend activities including a massively popular skate part used by skateboarders and BMX bikers.

The £12,582 handover, which was voted through by the council's Conservative cabinet on Tuesday night, will fund new energy-efficient lighting at the skate park and car park, as well as inside the main club building.

As well as reducing carbon emissions, the move will save the club around £1,800 a year.

Because the new lighting will be brighter, it will also increase safety at the site and allow cyclists to practice their skills later into the evening and even in the winter.

Councillor David Wilkinson, cabinet member for safer and stronger communities, said: "The club does excellent work for local children and teenagers, giving them the opportunity to develop some truly amazing skills on their boards and their bikes.

"We’re working hard to build on Worcester’s fantastic sporting offer to make our city even more vibrant and this is a great way to support some of the sports stars of the future."

During the cabinet debate Councillor Adrian Gregson, leader of the opposition Labour group, asked the leadership how other worthy bodies in the city can grab similar pots of cash.

"I'm not against this at all but it would be useful to hear how you arrived at this and how other worthy charities can get funding, because there are plenty out there," he said.

Councillor Andy Roberts, who sits in the Tory cabinet, said the skate park was so good people travel from Birmingham to use it.

"That's how good this place is," he said. "It really is tremendous."

After the cabinet meeting Phil Weston OBE, development manager at the club, said: "We’ve been working to support the welfare of young people in Worcester since 1976 and I think everyone who comes into contact with us realises the importance of our work.

"It’s great the council is supporting us in this way, helping us to continue to make a positive contribution to providing young people’s activities in the city."